(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system of recognizing a space of a road shoulder using an ultrasonic wave sensor, a radar, and a video imaging device included in a vehicle.
(b) Description of the Conventional Art
As generally known in the art, a road shoulder is an edge outside a width of the road on for example, an express way or a road reserved for vehicles, and is used for emergency vehicles or broken down vehicles. While a vehicle travels on an expressway or a road reserved for vehicles, when emergency occurs, there is a need to stably drive the vehicle onto the shoulder of the road.
To stably drive the vehicle during an emergency onto the road shoulder, it is necessary to recognize a space (width) of the road shoulder to determine a space capable of accommodating the vehicle. In other words, the driver must confirm whether the space of the road shoulder is a space that the vehicle may travel in or parking.
An exemplary embodiment of a conventional art for recognizing the space of the shoulder of the road uses a laser scanner. However, a laser scanner according to the conventional art used to recognize a space of a road shoulder is expensive. Additionally, the laser scanner according to the conventional art is sensitive to varying weather conditions. It is also known that it is difficult to apply the method to a vehicle because recognition of the space of a road shoulder is not stable.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.